


Uninvited

by things_that_matter



Series: CMBYN: Life with Ollie [34]
Category: Call Me By Your Name (2017), Call Me By Your Name - All Media Types, Call Me by Your Name - André Aciman
Genre: Bullying, Comfort, Domestic Fluff, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Family Drama, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, School
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-08
Updated: 2021-02-08
Packaged: 2021-03-14 01:28:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,586
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29288352
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/things_that_matter/pseuds/things_that_matter
Summary: Ollie doesn't understand why he isn't invited, since the party is for every boy in his class.
Relationships: Oliver/Elio Perlman
Series: CMBYN: Life with Ollie [34]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2094873
Comments: 12
Kudos: 22





	Uninvited

**Author's Note:**

  * For [dancinginahurricane](https://archiveofourown.org/users/dancinginahurricane/gifts), [Opalexx](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Opalexx/gifts), [shelivesinafairytale](https://archiveofourown.org/users/shelivesinafairytale/gifts), [Melilon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Melilon/gifts).



> Thanks for reading, and especially for leaving kudos and comments. I've only ever written for myself, and I'm learning that it's a completely different process to write something you hope someone else can enjoy or relate to. 
> 
> This story has a very short follow up that just needs a final reread and will be added soon.

Oliver was washing dishes when he heard the front door open, then slam shut. Before Oliver could even remind Ollie to put his things away, he heard the little boy pounding purposefully down the hallway. Oliver wiped his hands on a towel and quickly trotted down the hallway after the boy. Unfortunately, the bedroom door slammed shut before Oliver could catch up. When he turned the knob and pushed the door, he felt resistance and discovered that Ollie was sitting against it. 

“Ollie, let me in,” Oliver said calmly. The only reply was Ollie crying. “Please?” Oliver tried again.

“No!! Go away!!” Ollie screamed. Oliver felt his heart break a little bit in that moment. Ollie hadn’t come home from school this upset in a long time. 

“Ollie, I can’t go away. I have to check that you’re okay,” Oliver called through the door. 

The only answer Oliver received came in the form of a loud bang against the door. Oliver was uncertain whether Ollie kicked it or hit it. 

“I’m coming in,” Oliver said as he began slowly sliding the door open, being careful not to hurt Ollie who was sitting on the floor, leaning against the door. 

Once inside the room, Oliver’s heart broke for a second time at what he saw. Sitting cross legged on the floor, leaning against the door, was Ollie. He was looking down at first, but when Oliver spoke his name, softly, the little boy looked up at him. Ollie’s face was all speckled from crying. Oliver didn’t know if he should, but he reached down and picked Ollie up. Sometimes Ollie refused to be comforted when he was very upset, but today he just went limp in Oliver’s arms and allowed Oliver to pat his back and play with his hair. After walking around the room a moment, Oliver slid down the door, sitting on the floor exactly as Ollie had been before. Still holding the little boy, Oliver whispered softly, “I need to know what happened to upset you.” When he heard Ollie begin whimpering again, Oliver quickly pushed on, “Do you want to tell me now, or do you want to tell me after dinner?” Oliver hoped that by presenting it as a choice, Ollie wouldn’t dig his heels in. 

“No,” Ollie answered. No such luck, Oliver thought. 

Oliver hugged Ollie and then sighed deeply. “Okay. That’s okay, Ollie. Elio will be here soon,” Oliver said. It made Oliver feel a little sad when he couldn’t get Ollie to talk to him, but sometimes a kid just needs his big brother, Oliver supposed. He tried not to take it personally.

“No!!” Ollie cried.

“No, what?” Oliver asked. He hadn’t thought he said anything upsetting. 

“Elio can’t know about it,” Ollie cried, visibly upset again. 

“Ollie, neither Elio nor I are going to be okay with not knowing why you are as upset as you are today. We want to know what happened so we can decide if you might need our help. So, you can either tell me, or you can wait and tell Elio, it’s your choice.”

Ollie started to struggle then, wanting to be left alone. Still, Oliver held onto him gently, knowing that Ollie would become even more distraught if left alone. Ollie occasionally needed help regulating his emotions. So, Oliver hugged him and spoke soothingly, “Calm down, Ollie… It’s okay,” over and over again until Ollie did eventually calm down. 

Once Ollie’s breathing was normal once again, Oliver asked, “Now tell me what happened and no matter what it is, I will help you.” Oliver was surprised by how fiercely Ollie grabbed him then. They still sat together on the floor in front of the door, but Ollie acted as if Oliver were dangling him from the roof of a tall building. Ollie wrapped his arms tightly around Oliver’s neck, and Oliver could feel the little fingers digging into his shoulders. Oliver felt as if he’d swallowed a brick. What on earth could have upset their boy like this?

“I’m the only one,” Ollie began, but then started sobbing again. 

Oliver patted his back and waited. He knew that whatever had happened was something hard for Ollie to say, and he thought the best thing might be to give him plenty of time. The waiting was beneficial, because eventually Ollie continued, “Danny invited every boy in our class to his birthday party tonight. Every boy but ME.” Ollie sobbed. Oliver was immediately glad that Elio wasn’t home. Of course he wouldn’t keep it from Elio, but he needed to work out all of the facts first. This is something Elio often fails to do when _big brother mode_ commences. Elio and Oliver had both had misgivings about Danny. It seemed he always wanted to play with Ollie in the neighborhood, but even though they were in the same class together, Ollie claimed that Danny wasn’t his friend at school. So, Oliver wasn’t completely surprised when he learned what happened. It didn’t make it less painful to see the effects of it, though. 

“Ollie, that must have really hurt your feelings, huh?” Oliver asked. 

Ollie nodded, swiping at his eyes. “Kinda,” he finally choked out. 

“How did you find out about the party?” Oliver wanted to know. 

“Because,” Ollie started to cry again as soon as he tried to explain what happened. 

Oliver was patient though. He turned Ollie so that he was still in his lap, but facing the room rather than him. Then Oliver stretched an arm over to where a basket of LEGOs sat nearby. He put the basket near them, then wordlessly pulled out a few bricks and began clicking them together, building a simple wall. As he had hoped, Ollie reached into the basket and pulled out a few bricks, too. Soon, Ollie slid out of Oliver’s lap, and they both sat side-by-side then, snapping LEGO bricks together. After a moment, Ollie continued speaking while busying himself with the LEGOs. “Because he gave the invitations out at school and I didn’t get one. He had told the class it was only for boys, so I thought I would get one because I’m a… boy…” Ollie’s voice quivered here, and Oliver could perceive how upset Ollie was.

After a pause in which they both continued playing with LEGOs, Oliver finally asked, “Did you _ask_ Danny why you didn’t get an invitation?” Oliver couldn’t help but hold out some hope that it had been an oversight.

Ollie nodded, but as soon as he tried to answer, the tears began again anew. Ollie pulled his knees up to his chin, and then rested his forehead on his knees. His arms were wrapped around his legs, his small hands were still clasping two bricks which he clicked together and apart absently. Oliver placed a hand on Ollie’s back. Finally, Ollie said something to his knees, but Oliver couldn’t understand the muffled words. 

“Ollie?” Oliver prompted, giving his small back a gentle pat. 

“He told me I am not invited because… he didn’t… invite… girls,” and here Ollie choked on his own tears. Oliver patted his back a few more times, while also quickly looking away, trying to gain some control over his own raw emotions. Seeing Ollie this upset, Oliver experienced a physical sensation similar to pain in his own stomach, in his own chest. Only a few times in his life had Oliver experienced emotions so intense as to manifest themselves physically. When he said goodbye to Elio in Italy. When he said goodbye to his father a few months later after being forced to choose between them. When Elio’s own parents had passed away so suddenly. 

Oliver had no clue what to do at this moment. He had fallen into a paternal role for Ollie, but the problem was that Oliver didn’t think he really knew how to be a father. His own father had disowned him years before. This eliminated him as a role model, because if there was one thing Oliver knew he’d never do, it would be to disown Ollie, for any reason, ever. So, Oliver didn’t know what a good father would do here. He felt a strange impulse to go over and secretly threaten to break Danny’s arm, like they do on TV sometimes. Like Elio would probably want to do.

Though his mind raced with fantasies of threats of arm breaking, Oliver knew the first and most important job he had at this moment was to comfort Ollie. “Ollie, I know you probably want to go to that party, but I’m so happy that you’re here with me right now. You know it?” Oliver asked. 

Ollie lifted his head and Oliver saw a bright red mark on his forehead where he had been pressing it against his jeans. “Why are you glad?” Ollie asked quietly. 

“Because you’re my favorite person,” Oliver answered instantly, while running a gentle finger across the red spot on Ollie’s forehead . 

Ollie offered a weak half-smile. “But _Elio_ is your favorite person,” he responded. 

“Hmmm. Well, I _am_ rather fond of Elio,” Oliver said slowly, thoughtfully. “That _is_ a conundrum.” 

Ollie’s half-smile grew slightly. 

“Well, how about this,” Oliver offered a solution, “Elio is my favorite adult, and you are my favorite kid?” 

Ollie giggled. He was getting into the game. “No, because then when I’m an adult I won’t be your favorite anything!!” 

Oliver made a face at that. “Oh, no. That simply won’t do. Hmmmm… Maybe Elio will be my favorite person whose name starts with E, but you will be my favorite person whose name starts with an O?” 

Ollie giggled again, “No, no, that won’t work at all.” Ollie was shaking his head as if this were a ludicrous suggestion. “Your name starts with O, too, so I can’t be your favorite person with O!!” 

Oliver looked at Ollie with a more serious look on his face, his smile falling away for a moment. “You’re _definitely_ my favorite person whose name starts with O, Ollie,” Oliver said and Ollie felt the weight behind those words and was comforted. 

By the time Elio returned home, Ollie and Oliver had built a rather elaborate city with their LEGOs. Then they had made a pasta primavera with vegetables Ollie picked from the garden. Oliver had even made a chocolate cake, Ollie’s favorite dessert. Elio smiled as Ollie led him by the hand to see all the different things. 

“And this is our LEGO City! And these are the vegetables. Oliver let me pick them all myself and he didn’t even give me one advice! And look here…” Ollie clicked on the oven light and pointed. While Elio looked inside, Ollie whispered reverently, “It’s chocolate cake.” 

After they ate, it was game night. They played Catan. It was Elio’s favorite game, and therefore it was Ollie’s favorite game, too, even though he was still learning to play it. 

Finally, just when Elio was about to tell Ollie it was bedtime, Ollie yawned so loudly that they all three laughed. “I guess I’m sleepy,” Ollie said. 

“I guess so,” Elio smiled. 

Oliver let Elio get Ollie ready for bed and tuck him in. He hadn’t had a moment alone with Elio to fill him in on what had happened, and he wanted Ollie to have the opportunity to talk to his brother about it. But, Oliver was surprised when Elio was back in the living room moments later, curling up beside him, looking content and happy. Elio stretched up, kissing Oliver on the neck. Oliver then felt Elio’s hand slipping underneath his shirt, resting on his stomach. “I love you,” Elio whispered. 

Oliver hated to ruin such a perfect moment. But, this was something he and Elio would have to talk about, and he wasn’t sure if Elio might be angry with him for waiting to tell him. 

So, Oliver kissed Elio, then kissed his cheek and pulled away, leaning back into the sofa. Elio’s hand was drifting upward toward his chest. As much as he hated to, Oliver reached up and clasped Elio’s hand, pulling it back down and holding it tenderly. 

“Uh oh,” Elio sighed and then rolled his eyes expertly. “A kiss on the cheek and some innocent hand holding on a Friday night? This can’t be good. What happened?” 

Oliver sighed. “Let’s go out and smoke,” he said, standing and walking toward the back door. He picked up a jacket for each of them, handing Elio his, and walked out onto the deck. It was a beautiful night. They, in fact, didn’t even need the jackets, but they put them on anyway, for comfort. Elio walked to the deck rail, looking up at the moon. Oliver walked up behind him, wrapped his arms around him in the same way he so often did in bed, one arm across his stomach, the other across his chest. He bent his own neck to kiss Elio’s long, lovely one. Oliver adored the appearance of Elio’s pale skin in the moonlight. It took on an opalescence that made Elio appear almost other-worldly. Something too beautiful to walk the earth like an ordinary person.

“Tell me,” Elio said, lighting a cigarette and handing the lighter to Oliver. 

“Something happened with Ollie today,” Oliver began. 

They talked for a long time on the deck that night. The moon gradually rose, then grew smaller. The insects and frogs sang, then stopped singing. The jackets were not needed, then were needed. The cigarette package became empty, the ashtray full. And still, they talked. 

“I can’t understand why kids are so mean to each other,” Oliver said at last. 

“It’s not kids, it’s people,” Elio muttered. 

“Not all people,” Oliver quickly corrected. 

“Not all kids, either,” Elio pointed out. “Ollie isn’t like that. I’d be ashamed of him if he ever treated someone like that. So would our parents.” 

“And that’s why he isn’t like that, Elio,” Oliver added with a smile. 

Elio nodded, and things were quiet for a long time. 

“Maybe you were right all along,” Oliver said. 

Elio liked the sound of that, but he didn’t know what Oliver was referring to. “About what?” he asked. 

“School. Maybe we should educate him at home. Like you said,” Oliver said. 

“No,” Elio shook his head. 

Oliver was surprised. Elio had fought hard against putting Ollie in school when he’d first arrived. It had been Oliver who had insisted. “No??” Oliver asked. 

But, Elio shook his head again. “No, Ollie isn’t going to be chased out of school by mean kids. He has us, he can talk to us, and we can help him. It’s not as if he’s alone.” 

“Okay,” Oliver agreed. Elio had a point, and it was, in fact, a point he’d made himself many times. “So what are we going to do though? I think we definitely need a meeting at school about what happened, what was said, and how it was handled. And, we should probably talk to Danny’s family, too. I don’t know if they will continue to be friends, but they still need to know about it.”

Elio shrugged casually, “Well you do you, but personally, I’m going to secretly threaten to break Danny’s arm if he ever makes my little brother that upset again.” 

Oliver narrowed his eyes and gave Elio a scrutinizing look. He didn’t _think_ Elio was serious, but he made a note to keep an eye on him the following day. Just in case. 


End file.
